What do you think?
Rate this book
Alastair Stone Chronicles #30
Vicious Circle
What Goes Around, Comes Around
Still coming to terms with recent events, Alastair Stone is shocked when someone from his past—someone he still feels guilty he couldn’t save—resurfaces in his life with a desperate claim that he’s the only one who can help her.
She may be right.
He’d thought the Evil—extradimensional beings with a taste for human fear, misery, and rage—had settled down. But now it appears they’ve got a new plan—and a new leader.
Stone and Verity go undercover to a tropical holiday paradise designed specifically with the Evil’s sadistic tastes in mind, hoping to discover who this new leader is and what they’re up to.
But when the plan turns out to be far more ambitious—and far deadlier—than either of them had ever suspected, stopping it becomes more crucial than ever.
If they fail, the Evil will gain a dangerous new foothold on the world.
However, if they succeed, Stone could get access to resources he never thought possible.
And he might need those resources, because some of his most powerful allies have stopped taking his calls.
Still coming to terms with recent events, Alastair Stone is shocked when someone from his past—someone he still feels guilty he couldn’t save—resurfaces in his life with a desperate claim that he’s the only one who can help her.
She may be right.
He’d thought the Evil—extradimensional beings with a taste for human fear, misery, and rage—had settled down. But now it appears they’ve got a new plan—and a new leader.
Stone and Verity go undercover to a tropical holiday paradise designed specifically with the Evil’s sadistic tastes in mind, hoping to discover who this new leader is and what they’re up to.
But when the plan turns out to be far more ambitious—and far deadlier—than either of them had ever suspected, stopping it becomes more crucial than ever.
If they fail, the Evil will gain a dangerous new foothold on the world.
However, if they succeed, Stone could get access to resources he never thought possible.
And he might need those resources, because some of his most powerful allies have stopped taking his calls.
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2022
55 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
R.L. King
68 books332 followersR. L. King is the author of the Amazon-bestselling urban fantasy series The Alastair Stone Chronicles.
When not doing her best to make life difficult for her characters, she works as a software technical writer for a large Silicon Valley database company.
She also freelances for Catalyst Game Labs, publisher of the popular roleplaying game Shadowrun, where she's contributed fiction and game material to numerous sourcebooks and one full-length adventure, "On the Run," which was included as part of the 2012 Origins-Award-winning "Runners' Toolkit."
Her first novel in the Shadowrun universe, "Borrowed Time," was published in Spring 2015. She's working on her second Shadowrun novel, "Veiled Extraction," which will be released in late 2016 or early 2017.
When not writing or working, she enjoys hanging out with her very understanding spouse and her small herd of cats, and watching way too much Doctor Who.
When not doing her best to make life difficult for her characters, she works as a software technical writer for a large Silicon Valley database company.
She also freelances for Catalyst Game Labs, publisher of the popular roleplaying game Shadowrun, where she's contributed fiction and game material to numerous sourcebooks and one full-length adventure, "On the Run," which was included as part of the 2012 Origins-Award-winning "Runners' Toolkit."
Her first novel in the Shadowrun universe, "Borrowed Time," was published in Spring 2015. She's working on her second Shadowrun novel, "Veiled Extraction," which will be released in late 2016 or early 2017.
When not writing or working, she enjoys hanging out with her very understanding spouse and her small herd of cats, and watching way too much Doctor Who.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 7, 2025
This is by far the longest book. Most of what the blurb talks about didn't happen until after the 4th of the 9-hour read. (Side note: with Kindle that's what I go by instead of pages. When I first got one, I thought the reading speed was cool.) As usual reading any of King's books is a joy. In this one we get a "new" bad guy, but my favorite new character is one that we only have for a short conversation. The inference is that we will meet her again. I hope so. She was interesting and disarming. When the time jump happened, I was worried that it would ruin the series. That it would be the proverbial "jump the shark" moment. Happily, that is not the case. Having Stone's friends mature some more is making them better characters. I wish we could get a bit more Jason, but in this book, there really wasn't a way that would have made sense. I miss Kolinsky and Madame Huan. I'd like this dragon nonsense to clear up soon.
This is a slight spoiler:
This is a slight spoiler:
June 30, 2022
𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒍𝒆, Book 30, The Alastair Stone Chronicles,
by R.L. King
Well, obviously I didn't love this novel. I've followed the Chronicles since the beginning, so I hate it when I am not happy with a book in this series. Usually, I would rate it one star higher based on the basics of plotting, pacing, editing, characterizations, action, etc. Not this time. Yes, all of those things were done relatively well. I could probably summarize what I didn't like (and I almost DNF and put it on my Threw It At The Wall shelf 3 separate times -- the last time being when I was 90% done!) in two words 'The Other.' Ye gods, didn't we hear enough bout them in the first several books of the series? There are so many fun ideas for plots out there and King goes for The Other? SMH
And Stone needs some new friends. While I can stomach Verity when she and Stone are not romantically involved and she is busy with her San Francisco friends, she was all too present in this book. If you have to stay with that family, I personally prefer Jason, Amber and their two small children to Verity. I know she is popular with other Stone readers, but not with me.
And the proofing and editing left something to be desired in this book. At location 2523 on my Kindle is this error: "...if you're sure I won't be dragging away from your movie." Dragging away? Who or what? Similarly, at 2885 is this: "If do end up needing anything, please..."
At beginning at location 3781 and continuing after was a very Harry Potter-like plot twist, where people drink a potion and instantly look like someone else. That really really disappointed me.
The rest of my dislikes were mostly UK slang such as "turfed out" and "bougie" and "raid." That last one could possibly refer to a make-believe actual raid (how about that for an oxymoron?) that Gina was going to play with her online friends. However, the others were definitely slang. "Turfed out" was said by Stone twice and its meaning was evident from context. "Bougie," however, was used in non-character conversation, non-character thought, plain old text. BTW, "bougie," which appears at location 3716 (...still read paper periodicals if they were bougie enough).), is defined by Oxford dictionaries as "a thin, flexible surgical instrument for exploring or dilating a passage of the body." Isn't that an interesting visual? I never could find a slang meaning for it in any language.
So, combine my dislike of the subject of the plot and the errors and I was keenly disappointed in this action-filled novel that should have been fun to read. Does that mean I won't buy more in the series? That is a wait and see game.
by R.L. King
Well, obviously I didn't love this novel. I've followed the Chronicles since the beginning, so I hate it when I am not happy with a book in this series. Usually, I would rate it one star higher based on the basics of plotting, pacing, editing, characterizations, action, etc. Not this time. Yes, all of those things were done relatively well. I could probably summarize what I didn't like (and I almost DNF and put it on my Threw It At The Wall shelf 3 separate times -- the last time being when I was 90% done!) in two words 'The Other.' Ye gods, didn't we hear enough bout them in the first several books of the series? There are so many fun ideas for plots out there and King goes for The Other? SMH
And Stone needs some new friends. While I can stomach Verity when she and Stone are not romantically involved and she is busy with her San Francisco friends, she was all too present in this book. If you have to stay with that family, I personally prefer Jason, Amber and their two small children to Verity. I know she is popular with other Stone readers, but not with me.
And the proofing and editing left something to be desired in this book. At location 2523 on my Kindle is this error: "...if you're sure I won't be dragging away from your movie." Dragging away? Who or what? Similarly, at 2885 is this: "If do end up needing anything, please..."
At beginning at location 3781 and continuing after was a very Harry Potter-like plot twist, where people drink a potion and instantly look like someone else. That really really disappointed me.
The rest of my dislikes were mostly UK slang such as "turfed out" and "bougie" and "raid." That last one could possibly refer to a make-believe actual raid (how about that for an oxymoron?) that Gina was going to play with her online friends. However, the others were definitely slang. "Turfed out" was said by Stone twice and its meaning was evident from context. "Bougie," however, was used in non-character conversation, non-character thought, plain old text. BTW, "bougie," which appears at location 3716 (...still read paper periodicals if they were bougie enough).), is defined by Oxford dictionaries as "a thin, flexible surgical instrument for exploring or dilating a passage of the body." Isn't that an interesting visual? I never could find a slang meaning for it in any language.
So, combine my dislike of the subject of the plot and the errors and I was keenly disappointed in this action-filled novel that should have been fun to read. Does that mean I won't buy more in the series? That is a wait and see game.
September 11, 2023
Excellent Story
The evil is back and they want something that Stone is not willing to let them have. Placing himself and one of his friends in danger to combat the evil, will it be enough? This book continues with all of the characters we know and love from King’s Stone books. Great story telling and just the right amount of action. Throw in a little intrigue and puzzle solving and we get a story to enjoy.
The evil is back and they want something that Stone is not willing to let them have. Placing himself and one of his friends in danger to combat the evil, will it be enough? This book continues with all of the characters we know and love from King’s Stone books. Great story telling and just the right amount of action. Throw in a little intrigue and puzzle solving and we get a story to enjoy.
July 18, 2022
Crazy installment!!
I can't believe we are 30 books into Dr Stone!! This was a great read that got us back to something we all thought done with a while ago. But wow what a great story! Took some twists and turns and now set us up for more fun with the whole gang! Can't wait for the next one!!
I can't believe we are 30 books into Dr Stone!! This was a great read that got us back to something we all thought done with a while ago. But wow what a great story! Took some twists and turns and now set us up for more fun with the whole gang! Can't wait for the next one!!
June 27, 2022
I can never get enough of Alastair. His adventures always keep me captivated, and leave me wanting more, and Vicious Circle is no exception. RL King could drop a book a month and it *still* wouldn't be enough.
PS - dragons are jerks
PS - dragons are jerks
July 4, 2022
Amazing as always.
Alastair is once again in a position of having to solve numerous problems. I love this series. Never a dull moment. Now waiting for the next in the series. Amazing.
Alastair is once again in a position of having to solve numerous problems. I love this series. Never a dull moment. Now waiting for the next in the series. Amazing.
July 5, 2022
Always hits the spot
Timely books with the twists and turns of an amusement park roller coaster. As usual I am up late finishing the latest tasty morsel. I’ll reread it of course just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. But then it will be the wait for 31.
Timely books with the twists and turns of an amusement park roller coaster. As usual I am up late finishing the latest tasty morsel. I’ll reread it of course just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. But then it will be the wait for 31.
July 11, 2022
Does not disappoint
R.L King weaves another fun story. The villains objectives were easily discovered by the reader but did not detract from the story. An enjoyable read and a fun reunion with Dr. Stone and the gang.
R.L King weaves another fun story. The villains objectives were easily discovered by the reader but did not detract from the story. An enjoyable read and a fun reunion with Dr. Stone and the gang.
October 26, 2022
Darryl s Review
I just love bringing up old Characters & Enemy's from early in the series to hear what happened to them & how they story progressed. This was a nice Conclusion to A particular story line that I had thought about. Thank You
I just love bringing up old Characters & Enemy's from early in the series to hear what happened to them & how they story progressed. This was a nice Conclusion to A particular story line that I had thought about. Thank You
November 29, 2022
another extremely entertaining read!
Can’t say enough about how much I enjoy the stories. Looking forward to more. A blast from the past to experience through the written word. These should be movies!
Can’t say enough about how much I enjoy the stories. Looking forward to more. A blast from the past to experience through the written word. These should be movies!
December 24, 2023
always excellent!
I love these books part of me wants to read faster to get to the next vet but then when I get close to the end of a book, I need to slow it down and save her every last bit of it
I love these books part of me wants to read faster to get to the next vet but then when I get close to the end of a book, I need to slow it down and save her every last bit of it
June 26, 2022
Another great Stone story. Looking forward to the next one.
June 29, 2022
NEVER DISAPPOINTS
Another excellent Alastair Stone novel. If you haven’t already read them now is the time! I highly recommend this series!!
Another excellent Alastair Stone novel. If you haven’t already read them now is the time! I highly recommend this series!!
July 4, 2022
Very good
A good chapter in the Alistair Stone world of magical adventures. Stone has to tackle problems caused by that Evil again.
A good chapter in the Alistair Stone world of magical adventures. Stone has to tackle problems caused by that Evil again.
July 8, 2022
Great new book
Wow.....one of the best Alastair Stone books yet. Like a juggling act with more and more spinning axes entering the performance.
Wow.....one of the best Alastair Stone books yet. Like a juggling act with more and more spinning axes entering the performance.
September 22, 2023
Never seen a book begin with junk mail
Kudos for a great start ! Very inventive. Sets up a new chapter for Alistair (see what I did there ;)
Kudos for a great start ! Very inventive. Sets up a new chapter for Alistair (see what I did there ;)
December 23, 2023
Better than last two books before this one
I do not like reading about zombies and gouls. I hope The last scion is a good one. I'm invested in this series
I do not like reading about zombies and gouls. I hope The last scion is a good one. I'm invested in this series
July 6, 2022
Another great Stone story
Still loving this series. It’s amazing how the author comes up with new twists to the story. Can’t wait for Stone 31
Still loving this series. It’s amazing how the author comes up with new twists to the story. Can’t wait for Stone 31
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews